Witcher FF Fate have bad sense of humor
by Katherine Serafin
Summary: White Wolf's peace was disturbed by sudden appearence of an unusual guest with equaly unusual knowledge. The situation comical at first, quickly turned out to be more serious than anybody could expected. Kaer Morhen and it's habitants will again be witnesses of extraordinary events. And Fate will show, that it really have a bad sense of humor. And like to be a prick.


Sounds of the inn became so familiar, that she wasn't paying attention to them anymore. It was more than a year, since they defeated the Wild Hunt and the White Frost. Over a dozen of wonderful months, when they were either spending lazy days in Corvo Bianco vineyard or travelling from place to place, depending on Geralt and Ciri desire of going back on the Path. Currently, they have been spenging another day in Upper Sodden. Yennefer waited for her witchers to return after their task, sunk in the book she had bought in Beauclair some time ago. The first thing that detached the sorceress from reading was a familiar girlish laughter, followed by the sound of footsteps of two people on the stairs. She, however, was still sitting calmly, with her eyes focused on the book, even when someone opened the door extremely roughly.  
"Ha, that was something." Ciri tossed the gloves on her bags carelessly, then she laid down her sword and rubbed her neck. "It was a hell of a fight with this monster, right Geralt?"  
The witcher only nodded, also taking of the parts of the equipment, clearly amused by girl's enthusiasm. Yennefer looked at them both critically, then she shook her head and put down the volume. She got up from the bed, folding her arms over her chest.  
"I only hope that your effort was appropriately rewarded," she replied, and then with one spell she summoned the water, which filled a tub set behind one of the two paravans. "Ciri, go wash yourself. You both stink for a kilometer, Geralt, you will be the next, but first, there is something you should see."  
Ashen-haired girl was about to say something, but the sorceress's sight effectively stopped her. She hid behind the paravan and after a while they heard a splash as she hopped into the prepared bath.  
"So? What do you want to show me?" asked the white-haired man, staying only in a linen shirt and trousers.  
The enchantress's face suddenly grew serious. She went to the window and opened it wider. Then Geralt noticed a raven on the outer window sill, with a bundle of parchment strapped to its foot. As soon as the bird saw the witcher, it flew inside and landed on his outstretched hand. He unclogged the message effortlessly, and when he did, the raven immediately flew off and sat on the edge of the table. Witcher crossed his gaze with Yennefer for a second and unfolded the parchment.  
"It's from Regis," he murmured, briefly reading the letter.  
Focused on the text, he did not see Yen frowning.  
„Who's Regis, Geralt?" they heard Ciri's voice, accompanied with a splash of water. "This name sound familiar…"  
"He is an old friend" replied the white-haired casually, focused on the letter, and when he finished reading, he looked up at the woman standing next to him. "He writes that something is happening in Toissaint again."

* * *

It was a really nice friday afternoon. A young woman sat on a park bench with a smile of contentment on her face, closing her eyes for a moment. July sun pleasantly warmed her slim, triangular face and played with warm reflections in the black-and-chocolate, shoulder-length hair. For a moment, she let herself to carelessly not think about anything, focusing only on the feeling of warmth on her skin. She had exactly two and a half days of laziness, which she was looking forward to, especially after last week. She breathed in the air filled with smelled of flowering plants, until she felt the urge to sneeze. She slowly opened her eyelids and after a moment she went forward, humming under her breath. The light fabric of the black dress rubbed softly against her legs, and the leather ballet shoes effectively muffled her steps. She quickly found a quiet place, a bench hidden behind the stone wall that was part of the monument, where she sat. Then, she took out a notebook and a pen from the bag. This part of the park was usually visited by very few people, so she knew that nobody should bother her here. She leaned back against the wall and was about to start writing when suddenly ...  
Shine. Bang. A piercing feeling of coolness. She felt that she's losing her balance and falling back. She cried, though she could hear nothing in the deafening noise. And it all happened in fractions of a second. Then she fell in the darkness, when she hit her head on something hard.  
If someone would walk by, he or she would see a girl disappearing in unexplained circumstances. Nobody saw it, though. It took only a few seconds for the dark-haired to be pulled in by the glowing oval, and a few minutes to make it disappear from the stone wall at the bench. The only trace of anyone's presence was a handbag left on the bench, and a notebook on the ground.  
The park was peaceful and quiet again.

* * *

"You've become quite reticent, even for yourself. Regis explained what exactly happened at Toissaint? Someone was killed?" asked the sorceress, when they finished packing on the next day in the morning.  
Indeed, witcher merely said anything about received letter. He said that they had to go back and only Yennefer's firm protest stopped him from moving out the same evening. Geralt sighed, taking most of their luggage.  
"According to what he wrote, not yet," he replied moving towards the already prepared horses. „But he sensed something, what he called a swirl of the energy, and he wanted to explain something about it.  
"He explained, what exactly this swirl was?" Yennefer brushed the curl from her face.  
Witcher shook his head.  
"No, he just wrote that he'll explain everything when we'll meet. He asked me to come back as soon as I could."  
„So, we had our peace," she murmured as the three of them were standing by the horses.  
The man finished saddling Roach and smiled lightly at the woman's words. Taking advantage of the fact that Yen was at arm's length, he pulled her to him and laid a short kiss on the top of her head.  
"Let's move."  
The journey took them a few hours, so when they reached Corvo Bianco the sun was already pas midday. Witcher decided to not wait, and as soon as the horses were already unsaddled and the luggage brought to the estate, he almost immediately went to meet his friend. He guessed that if he wrote to him so suddenly, he had to have good reason for it. The vampire was the last person who could be suspected for making a mountain out of a molehill. However, he haven't gone far, when he saw his former companion unexpectedly appearing in the entrance to the vineyard.  
"Hello, Regis" Geralt greeted him, as they met halfway. "I see that your birds have told you about our return."  
A light smile appeared on the visitor's face.  
"Indeed, my friend. And it's good that your mistress is here too," he replied, looking over the the white-haired man's shoulder at the sorceress who was approaching them. "Her help may be necessary."  
"And what actually happened?" asked the witcher. "Your letter was quite enigmatic."  
"It will be best if we go to my place right away. I will explain everything to you on the way."

* * *

She had no idea, for how long she was unconscious. When she woke up, she needed a longer while to realize what just happened. Completely confused and bewildered, she looked around her, feeling as the panic begin to overwhelm her. _What is this place?,_ she thought with fear, _and how on earth I got here?_. She slowly stood up, first on her knees, then on straight legs, though those were still shaky. The chaos in the dark-haired thoughts was almost indescribable. She didn't understand a thing, she had no idea what was going on. Slowly, barely realizing what she was doing, she began to slowly go forward. After a moment, the panic began to leave her, and she started to listen to her common sense. She had to find someone, anyone, find out where she was and how she found herself here. The dusk was slowly falling, and the wind became colder. She reached a path leading through the forest that she followed, looking for anything that would indicate the presence of people. But the longer she went, the more she realized that the chills that she felt were only halfly caused by cold. She was more and more scared. She was in a completely strange place, with no view of a safe place to spend the night, or anyone who could help her. And when she was close to panic again, after she reached one of the turns, she saw the end of the forest, and in not so long distance, buildings of the city. The wave of relief almost cut her off her legs. So maybe it won't be so bad. She fastened a bit, but after overcoming a part of the distance from the town, the trail split. One of the roads seemed safer and better, and the other led alongside the necropolis, but it seemed like quicker way to the city. She stopped for a moment to think, but soon she took the shorter trail. She had no idea, that soon she would regret it.

* * *

They went immediately, the four of them, because there was no way of keeping Ciri at home, and the vampire did not object.  
"As you probably remember, I had a place at the cemetery Mere-Lachaise, which I used during my stay in Toissaint." Regis began, when they were going to the cemetery.  
"Yes, I remember," said witcher. " You mentioned in the letter about some swirl of the energy. It happened right there?"  
"Not really. Yesterday afternoon I sensed something that surprised me. The gateway between the worlds opened." Regis glanced over his shoulder at Ciri and Yennefer.  
Women exchanged glances between themselves and Geralt.  
"Are you sure?" asked the sorceress.  
"Completely. However, I did not ask you to come here in such hurry just because of it. Of course, I checked the place where I thought the passage was, but nothing special paid my attention. So I came back to my place. It was not an hour later, when I heard someone crying for help.

* * *

As she walked, she tried not to look at the tombs she was passing. The sun has not went down completely, although it was close. Still, she was seeing what was happening around well. And that's what caused her problem. Though she tried to look at the silhouette of the city, suddenly she caught some movement by the corner of her eye. Immediately, a few raised voices reached her ears, then the sound of strokes.  
"And what, you thought you'll get away with it, you son of a bitch?" she heard, realizing with fear, that she was just approaching the source of sound.  
Despite her common sense, she did several more steps. When someone's plea and dull moan came to her ears, one, then another, and she almost involuntarily looked in that direction and momentarily froze, barely stopping herself from screaming. Four men stood only a few meters away from her, beating the fifth, now lying on the ground. _No ... it cannot be real!_ , she thought in a panic. She had to get out of there, as soon as possible. She knew she would not help that man anymore, even if she would call or run for help now. Unfortunately, the dark-haired body decided to refuse listening to her mind orders. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and the thought that she must hide rung like an alarm bell in her head. That she can't stay here, they might notice her in any moment and ...  
"Hey! Who are ya?"  
She felt a wave of cold coming over her. And what is she to do now? She saw four of the offenders rushing towards her, and finally, regaining her ability to move, she began taking steps backwards. Steps that quickly turned into a run.  
"After her! No witnesses!"  
Feeling them breathing down her neck, she gathered all her strength and run even quicker . Anyway, they got her faster than she thought. She cried out when one of them grabbed her wrist. She tried to break free, but in vain.  
"Don't tussle, lass" she heard a hiss of the one who currently held her in an iron grip with one hand by her wrists, the other around her waist. „Oi, boss, before we're done with her, maybe we can have some fun?"  
She made another desperate and unsuccessful attempt to free herself.  
"Help!" she cried, though she knew that it was still useless. "Some…"  
"Shut yer mouth!" a strong punch in her face effectively silenced her. " Borio, ya want to have fun, do it fast."  
He was about to drag her away somewhere, when in a moment of thinking straight, she noticed her chance. She waited until they were a bit further from the group, and as soon as she managed, she tried to kick the man in his crotch. Her stroke might not have had greatest strength, it was miserable actually, but it gave her the element of surprise she needed. Driven more by the instinct, than by her own knowledge, as soon as she was free, she hit the man in his temples with the bases of her wrists, and rushed to escape again, repeating the cry for help.  
"That's it, ya little bitch," she heard an angry voice behind her. He was definitely too close, and she could not run faster. They seized her again, not spearing hit and punches, and the commander came to her with a knife stretched out.  
"Let this young lady go, I'm warning you," they heard surprisingly calm voice.

* * *

" I helped her, and took her back." said Regis, ending his story. "She was like a small, frightened animal. She did not know where she was or what happened to her."  
"Well, well," witcher muttered as they entered the cemetery. "Don't take it as an offense, Regis, but somehow I've never imagined you in the role of a knight-errant, saving a damsel in distress."  
"Well, I could not let these bandits hurt her. Especially when there was something that I really wanted to check."  
Following the vampire, they were approaching his crypt.  
"What you have in mind?" Yen asked.  
"You see, the girl speaks with a completely unknown accent. It not vary much, but this subtle difference bothers me. And… she smells different too. I've never met someone who smells similar."  
"Maybe she's just a foreigner using perfumes that you've never smelled before?" suggested Ciri.  
A shadow of a smile appeared on Regis's face.  
"It's not about the perfume smell. It's her... hmm... blood that smells different to me. I have a serious suspicion that it was she who came here through the passage. And that was the reason why I called you."  
"You want to check if she's actually from another world?"  
The vampire nodded, standing in front of the solid door.  
"Personally, I have less and less doubt about it. Anyway, you'll find out for yourself, come in."  
He opened the vault door and led them down the stairs.

On the one hand, she was grateful to this man for helping her, and did not want to accuse him of any bad intentions, but on the other hand she didn't understand why he took her to the crypt in the cemetery. When she told him what had happened to her, he approached the bookshelf standing nearby with a strange face and started to look for something.  
"Don't be afraid, miss," he said only after a long moment, seeing her confused look. "Somebody who will be able to help us explain this situation should come soon. Now, you're probably tired. Try to get some sleep and rest."  
She looked at the man, raising one eyebrow up, sitting under the blanket on the makeshift bunk.  
"Rest? Here? You must be kidding. This is a cemetery! There are corpses all around!"  
The stranger only smiled benignly. He put down the book he was holding, then grabbed a medium-sized jug of water, which was standing at the table, and went to her. Dark-haired girl look a bit unsurely at him, but after a moment she took the jug with gratitude and drank almost half from it.  
"Right. Forgive me. But do not worry, this place is temporary for you" he said, and for a moment there was silence between them before the man asked. " Are you scared, miss?"  
She blinked several times, surprised by the question.  
"N-no," she said with a slight blush, putting the jug she was still holding in her hands away. "it's just... I don't feel very comfortable."  
She heard his soft laughter that gave her some pleasant shivers.  
" I understand. However, as I said, miss..."  
" Maja" she interrupted him gently, and as she saw the man's questioning gaze she continued. "My name is Maja"  
Her defender lifted a corner of his mouth slightly, then took a step toward to the girl and bowed.  
" I am therefore very pleased to meet you, Maja. They call me Emiel Regis."  
She was sure that her heart stopped for at least a few seconds. No, it could not be true, she obviously misheard him.  
"Emiel Regis?" she repeated hesitantly.  
"That's right. Something's wrong?" the man looked at her intently.  
"No, no," she said a little too eagerly. "You know... I think you're right. It's late, rest will do us good."  
Then, she covered herself more tightly with a blanket and laid down on the bunk. Although she closed her eyes, she knew she would not be able to fall asleep. How was it possible that she met Regis? This Regis? How did she find herself in this world? And who did he meant earlier, when he said he would get someone for help? What was it all about? She didn't even noticed, when the weariness took over, and she fell asleep under the watchful eye of her recent rescuer.


End file.
